Robinson R22 pilot inadvertently took off with ground handling wheels still installed. One fell off ...

Attributes
ACN	827922
Time
Date	200903
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Robinson R22
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Takeoff Parked
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Wheel Assemblies
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 45 Flight Crew Total 600 Flight Crew Type 30
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

Inadvertently took off in robinson R22 helicopter on a night training flight with ground handling wheels still attached. Wheels were used to reposition aircraft for departure after conducting preflight in a lighted hangar. Taxied; took off; and departed to the southwest. About 2 NM southwest of the field; realized that I had not removed the wheels prior to takeoff. I could see the right one was still in place; but could not see the left wheel from the right seat of the helicopter. Returned to airport for precautionary landing. Upon landing; determined that the left wheel had fallen off at some point during the flight. No damage to the helicopter was noted. Contributing factors were the repositioning of the aircraft after running the preflight checklist; and not stopping to recheck the checklist.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Robinson R22 pilot inadvertently took off with ground handling wheels still installed. One fell off while airborne.

Narrative: Inadvertently took off in Robinson R22 helicopter on a night training flight with ground handling wheels still attached. Wheels were used to reposition aircraft for departure after conducting preflight in a lighted hangar. Taxied; took off; and departed to the southwest. About 2 NM southwest of the field; realized that I had not removed the wheels prior to takeoff. I could see the right one was still in place; but could not see the left wheel from the right seat of the helicopter. Returned to airport for precautionary landing. Upon landing; determined that the left wheel had fallen off at some point during the flight. No damage to the helicopter was noted. Contributing factors were the repositioning of the aircraft after running the preflight checklist; and not stopping to recheck the checklist.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.